Halo Outpost Discovery!! AAAAHHHH!!! *IMGs* (Gaming)

by Morpheus , High Charity, Saturday, August 24, 2019, 09:34 (1704 days ago)

As you can guess, this post will be super image heavy. Thumbnails abound, bandwidth be warned!

It took so long for me to get a post started because Imgur was not cooperating all week--it crashed whenever I tried to bulk upload the photos on the PC, and the mobile version can only upload 50 pictures at a time. Plus, it was still a shellshocking experience!

Halo: Outpost Discovery made its 4th stop in Houston last weekend, at the famous George R. Brown Convention Center. Although I had been to that place before, it had been a VERY long time, so it was almost a new experience.

Because of my money situation—and the suspicion that most of the exhibits would be the same, I tapered off my admission; VIP Friday afternoon, General Admission Saturday, and not attending Sunday.

Upon arriving, I got those badges, some wristbands and a nice OP drawstring full of swag! (Codes will be offered in separate post) I got a bunch of Xbox codes, some sweet dog tags, and this ultra-special Golden Master Chief/Cortana Funko Pop!

"I need you, Cortana."

Already from the front door, you were immersed in the Halo universe. A motion-sensing information kiosk provided all the information you needed, with help from friendly "AI" Gabriela, in addition to a massive UNSC recruitment poster.

"Interestingly enough, they did have USMC recruitment tables, too."

The first thing they Outpost Discovery had--right when you walk in, was the Hall of History. There were several diorama walls with plenty of story about the Human-Covenant war, the weaponry and vehicles, and plenty of display cases with full size replicas of weapons!

Life-sized Warthog, of course. Not the functional one, obviously.

A crazily detailed Elite Ultra...

"Yeah, I think--um...well...okay yeah, I'd still kiss him."

And last, but certainly the most, the big man himself.

V.I.P. members got the privilege of getting access an hour before and after everyone else. Unfortunately, 44 minutes of that hour was spent waiting in line at the VR Training Grounds!

This being my very first time playing anything VR, I was definitely excited. After the huge wait, we eventually got grouped off into 6.

They gave us backpacks, big headsets and a small circular trigger, which was designed to feel like a Plasma Pistol. When we were eventually loaded up, we were virtually dropped into a stunning 3D version of what Valhalla would look like if it got the Halo 3 Anniversary treatment(commitments, Frank.), with Ghosts, Banshees and Warthogs all around. Our main play area was where the Spartan Laser would normally be located, top Mid. The square arena was changing in real-time, with walls and shield barricades adjusting throughout the 3 minute match. Players could shoot out the shields and fire at others. Obviously, you know how PP's work—when a player 'died' their weapon was disabled and they had to walk back to a safe zone to respawn.

I obviously couldn't record my eyesight, so you won't be able to see the VR in action. You can, however see how stupid we look. ;-)

https://i.imgur.com/NnzwuV2.mp4

(I also snapped a picture on a TV)

Although the game was super fun and immersive(and really beautiful), unfortunately this falls into the nearly endless category of 'Size Does Matter'. People who were really tall could literally lean over and shoot anyone over safe cover. And this one girl(the exhibit said 42 inches or higher only) was so short that the VR was literally just her head halfway sticking out of the floor.

And speaking of VR, each display case and history wall at the center had an AR feature to scan with your phone, providing a kickass realtime hologram of the object or person in question! It was amazing!

On the left side, served Pelican Training.

This one was really more for kids, but it was still pretty fun to try. Eight of us went inside a storage container souped up to look like the inside of a Pelican. Instructions were given to us over the PA and we had to get out of our bay seats to find a monitor with a bunch of switches and gears. Communication was key, as each monitor was tasked with doing one or more things, while others may or may not. For instance, monitor 4 had to pull back on the thrusting lever, while monitors 6 and 1 flipped the defensive shield switch. Those who listened and followed the instructions in a timely manner would be rewarded as a group. Unfortunately, with this generation....

"It did look very authentic, though!"

There was also a Lazer Tag Combat Deck, a 'Covenant Escape Room' and a Nerf darts play course, all of which I decided to skip.

A neat little bonus near the concession stand was a Halo Library—basically a cordoned area with all sorts of Halo books to feed your lore thirst.

There was also a Mega Bloks corner for the kids, where people could "build" (no instructions, helpers or unique pieces other than green 1x1's, so yeah right) Halo shapes, which featured some nice models and a really cool drop pod.

"By the way, the supervisor there got really pissed when I mentioned Legos. Product protection FTW"

"It's supposed to be Mega Bloks, but it's just foam. Sorry, doesn't count."

I think I'm gonna have to cut this one short--I've created a wall of text and pictures here. More will be in the next post below!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with one big picture to tease you with: